#WhatsHappening for January 16, 2021

Good morning, friends. Hope you're all having a good weekend and- if you're in one of the areas looking at crappy weather- prepared, warm, and dry.

#WhatsHappening for January 10, 2022

Try as I might, I rarely manage to stay "on top" of things the way I mean to. Like last weekend.

#WhatsHappening for January 5, 2022

 Hey, hi, howdy kiddios. Hope your week so far hasn't been terrible.

#Whats Happening for January 1, 2022

New year, new post. Don't get used to it. I mean, I could tell you that one of my resolutions is to be more diligent about posting, but I'm not very good about being resolute. I mean, I'll try, but- well, we know how that goes.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Right off the bat, I guess we all know 2021 can suck it. Then again, at least it was an improvement over 2020- even if by only a little. For better or worse, here's what been on my mind:

• Saturday Night Karaoke at the Tavern will continue for as long as we're able. That is, as long as it's safe (safe being a relative term) to do so- for me, for you, and the staff of the Tavern. 

Among the changes I've made in an attempt to limit contact, the "biggest" has been the elimination of physical songbooks and request slips. With the exception of a couple of people (including one fellow with a Scottish accent who called my refusal to "joost leh may write doon the soongs" he wanted to sing "deplorable." It was all I could do not to laugh, so I just said "okay, thank you for your feedback), our online sign up system has been well received and quite successful.

If you're unfamiliar with what to do to sign up at a show, the instructions are on our Facebook page. 

You can also scan the QR code below to go directly to the songbook. Please note, the page/songbook are active only when the show is active- which normally begins 30 minutes before the show's starting time. 

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫ 

The "ruling" apes on the planet have spent the last year trying to get out from under the thumb of our modern plague- COVID. The results have been decidedly mixed- particularly now that the oh-so-spreadable Omicron variant is in full swing. Up until about November, I knew all of two people who'd had it. Now? Oh, so many more.

That's not to say I'm a denier. This shit is real. It's here. The way the world has dealt with it (or, in the case of a lot of people in the US) is poor, to say the least.

Do your part: Wash your hands, keep your distance, stay home if you're not feeling well (particularly if you're sneezing, coughing, or have a fever) and wear a goddamned mask (you can go ahead and fuck off with your "a mask doesn't do anything to protect" bullshit. A mask isn't supposed to protect the wearer- it's to protect everyone else from the shit the wearer themselves might be carrying). And get the fucking vaccine. Even if it doesn't keep you from catching it, it should keep you out of serious harm's way (and you can go ahead and fuck off with each and every one of the conspiracy theories re the vaccines, too).

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫ 

As much as I'm looking forward to seeing Ringo Starr and the All-Starr Band, that show's already been postponed twice, thanks to the plague. If we still haven't turned the proverbial corner by June (a proposition I'm none too sure about), I'm going to seriously have to consider skipping the show. Considering how much I enjoyed it the last time around, the prospect sucks). Ditto on the suckage for the Elton John show in September that we have front row seats for.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫ 

2021 was another pretty harsh year, as far as losing folks. Here are some of note: Misty Morgan;  Gerry Marsden; Cloris Leachman; Tanya Roberts; Gregory Sierra; Bobby Few; Michael Apted; Deezer D; Tommy Lasorda; Jamie O'Hara; Marion Ramsey; Julie Strain; Howard Johnson; Tim Bogert; Duke Bootee; Phil Spector; Jimmie Rodgers; Hank Aaron; Janet Lawson; Hal Holbrook; Larry King; Grady Gain; Hilton Valentine; David Donato; Jim Weatherly; Nolan Porter; Christopher Plummer; Roz Cron; Mary Wilson; Gene Summers; Prince Markie Dee; Gene Taylor; Bob James; Ralph Peterson, Jr.; Bunny Wailer; Duffy Jackson; Alan Cartwright; Michael Stanley; Roger Mudd; Ray Campi; Margie Evans; Ethel Gabriel; Larry McMurtry; Louis St. Louis; Jill Corey; Sonny Simmons; DMX; Bob Porter; Rusty Young; Barby Kelly; Pat Rizzo; Barry Mason; Black Rob; Paul Oscher; Les McKeown; Joe Long; Shock G; Charlie Black; Denny Freeman; Anita Lane; John Hinch; Ray Reyes; Lloyd Price; Tawny Kitaen; Roger Hawkins; Dewayne Blackwell; John Davis; Gavin McLeod; B.J. Thomas; Robert Gordy; Clarence Williams, III; Dean Parish; Ned Beatty; Raoul de Souza; Ike Stubblefield; Johnny Solinger; John Lawton; Vic Briggs; Sanford Clark; Leo van de Ketterij; Frank Cook; Jeff LeBar; Biz Markie; Robby Steinhardt; Chuck E. Weiss; Mike Howe; Dusty Hill; Charles Conner; Paul Cotton; Les Vandyke; Gary Lee Yoder; Bruce Conte; Joey Ambrose; Nanci Griffith; Tom T. Hall; Don Everly; Charlie Watts; Sam Salter; Ed Asner; Ron Bushy; Adalberto Álvarez; Carol Fran; Sarah Harding; Byther Smith; Sarah Dash; Bob Moore; Pee Wee Ellis; Sue Thompson; Alan Lancaster; Andrea Martin; Barry Ryan; Lonnie Smith; Julia Nixon; Garnett Brown; Deon Estus; Marcus Malone; Paddy Moloney; Ron Tutt; Ralph Carmichael; Jay Black; Mike Hoffman; Sonny Osborne; Willie Cobbs; Ginny Mancini; Emmett Chapman: Pat Martino; Declan Mulligan; Ernest Wilson; Graeme Edge; John Goodsall; Philip Margo; Melvin Parker; Stonewall Jackson; Buddy Merrill; John Miles; Gil Bridges; Barry Harris; Ralph Tavares; Garth Dennis; David Lasley; Les Emmerson; Vicente Fernández; Phil Chen; Sonny Rhodes; Wanda Young; Hub; Terry Utley; Kangol Kid; Billy Conway; Paul Mitchell; J.D. Crowe; Ted Gardner; Betty White; and over 435,000 US citizens- as well as nearly 3.6 million worldwide- from a disease that, using common sense and care for our fellow travelers on this spinning rock on its ride around the solar system, we should be able to mitigate.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

The United States desperately needs comprehensive, federal voting rights legislation. The promise of this nation that all are equal is rendered highly suspect when state or local governments attempt to make it difficult to exercise its citizens' constitutional right to cast a ballot. 

The United States also desperately needs comprehensive infrastructure repairs. This is not a new belief on my part. When it was announced that the city of Atlanta was going to approve public funding for a new stadium (for a perpetually mediocre team), I voiced the opinion in a number of forums that the area around the stadium- and downtown Atlanta in general- was crumbling, and in dire need of infrastructure repair long before a billionaire should be getting public funds to build a new playground. I'd voiced that same general opinion in the late 80s (and well into the 90s), when the minor league baseball teams of that city sought to have a new stadium built, and when the city wanted to build a new civic center in the hopes of bringing in more minor league sports (basketball and hockey, both of which had already failed miserably in the city) and more concerts because of the city's (you guessed it) crumbling infrastructure. In short: Bridges, roads, the power grid, our drinking water- all of those need to be addressed, across the nation- and it's not a "new" thing. 

One last thing I think the nation desperately needs is for people to pull their heads out of their asses and just stop it with the lie that the 2020 election was fraudulent- and to punish each and every person involved with the attempted overthrow of the US government on January 6th last year.

♫♫♫♫♫ Now, other stuff ♫♫♫♫♫

LL Cool J was forced to pull out of his Times Square New Year's Eve performance after testing positive for COVID. Did I mention stay safe?

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

At Christmas, I normally just put on random movies all day, because (in the past) there's been fuck-all worth watching (and, for the record, if I never see A Christmas Story again, it'll be too fucking soon. I didn't have to do that this year, though. FXX has been running Family Guy nonstop since Christmas Eve. Is it enlightening, educational, or intellectual? No, no, and oh hell no. What I do think it is, though, is funny- so that's what I watched Christmas Eve evening, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. And most of last week.

Of course, SyFy started The Twilight Zone marathon at 2 am on the 31st, so I've pretty much been watching that ever since. Sixty plus years later, and it's still one of the best shows on television.

Something else I did notice, one of the StreamPix channels showed Bob Clarke's true Christmas classic- Black Christmas. 

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

All the music "experts" are putting out their "Best of 2021" album/song/video/whatever lists, and I'm over here going "uh, who the fuck is this asshole?" at most of them. In short, I'm out of touch- so, if there's a song that you're itching to tackle at karaoke, drop me a line and let me know.

If it's available, I'll see what I can do about adding it to the songbook (subject, of course, to a content review). That's the only way to request a new song, though. I'm trying to keep my distance, and ask that you do the same, so I'm going to ask that you not come up and yell in my ear. I also can't add anything during show, and (in almost every circumstance) using YouTube to run a song during a show is highly illegal, as is you saying you can "pull it up on the phone and sing it from there"- not to mention I'm not set up to play anything off your phone over the sound system.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Just curious- is everyone all freaking out about Miley Cyrus' wardrobe malfunction like they were about Janet Jackson's?

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

NME headline: "Nicolas Cage doesn’t like to be referred to as an 'actor'"

No sweat, Nick- you're not.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong backed out of playing with Miley Cyrus last night after being "exposed to COVID" over Christmas- though he says he hasn't tested positive for the virus.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Did you know Foo Fighters have a movie coming out? (Hey! I said I was out of touch!)

The film, titled Studio 666, is due for release later this year and stars Whitney Cummings, Leslie Grossman and others alongside the band. The story centers around what happens after the band moves into an Encino mansion "steeped in grisly rock and roll history" to record a new album and "supernatural forces ... threaten both the completion of the album and the lives of the band."

Grohl told MOJO there was "no other band stupid enough to do this."

Stupid horror movie? Sounds like my kind of flick.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Birthdays today include: Country Joe MacDonald (80); Martin Plaza of Mental As Everything (66); and Grandmaster Flash (64). #MusicalBirthdays

I'll try to get back by soon.